Chicken Sausage and Vegetable Soup

A couple weekends ago my friend called and said she and her husband were going to be passing my apartment after a day of outlet shopping and asked if I wanted to do a drink. I told her just to stop by on her way back and I would have cocktails and snacks ready—a much better option after a long day of shopping. As I was collecting various cheeses and some crackers at the grocery store, I passed the refrigerated meats – for some reason the chicken sausage caught my eye. I tossed a package of Johnsonville’s chicken sausage with apples in the basket, not knowing what I was going to do with them. Nevertheless, they sounded good.

Upon arriving home, I set out the brie so it would get soft and set about relaxing. As I sat reading I thought that soup sounded really good on this particularly cold day. The best part: I could make it early and leave it simmer on the stove while we had cocktails. Even better, if my friends were cold and hungry I would have a nice dinner at the ready. In the end it proved perfect—my friends were tired and hungry and the soup was the best fix. We started with an assortment of cheeses and crackers, then moved to my newfound chicken sausage soup with some baguette. It was a wonderful winter’s day—good food, friends, and cocktails.

Chicken Sausage and Vegetable Soup

Ingredients
1 package Johnsonville fully cooked chicken sausage with real apple (4 sausages), cut into 1-inch pieces
1 onion, diced (yields about 2 cups)
1 bunch celery, chopped (yields about 5 or 6 cups)
2 ½ cups carrots, chopped (I used baby carrots since they are smaller)
2 tablespoons butter (or 1 tablespoon butter, 1 tablespoon olive oil)
3 cups spinach
1 jar, 15.5 ounces Tostitos chunky medium salsa
5.5 ounces cannellini beans
32 ounces low sodium vegetable broth

Directions
1. Heat butter (or butter and olive oil) in a large pot.
2. When pot has heated, turn burner to medium/high heat and add chopped carrots, cooking about 4 minutes.
3. Next add diced onion and chopped celery, cooking 5-7 minutes
4. Once carrots and celery begin to soften, add 32 ounces vegetable broth and reduce to a simmer
5. Next, add the pieces of chicken sausage, cannellini beans, and jar of salsa and simmer for 15-20 minutes (you can simmer longer depending on when you want to serve)
6. Finally, bring the soup to a boil, add the spinach; cook until the spinach is wilted
7. Spoon soup into big bowls and serve with baguette
8. ENJOY!

Pumpkin Soup

The other day my boyfriend and I were discussing how little pumpkin is used (particularly in the canned form) after Thanksgiving. I personally love the flavor of pumpkin and think it can be used well after the holidays, in both sweet and savory dishes. In fact, recently my friend had a Top Chef pumpkin competition where all invitees were asked to bring an appetizer, main course, or dessert using pumpkin – and the results were quite interesting! Not only were there such things as pumpkin ravioli and pumpkin cheesecake, but there were such surprises as a pumpkin pie cake, a pumpkin chili, and most delectable to me – roasted pumpkin with a garlic yogurt sauce, a recipe that I have made for a dinner party after tasting it at the competition – delicious! (Note: For the pumpkin challenge, I made Martha Stewart’s pumpkin bread pudding with a dulce de leche sauce – it also turned out quite well.)

I have never really cooked with pumpkin in a savory way, minus recreating the roasted pumpkin, but my boyfriend (who is also quite creative in the kitchen) and I decided we could take on the challenge and created a dish from scratch using the canned pumpkin left in the cupboard.

Our results are below:

Quick and Easy Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin
2 sausages (Johnsonville brats work best)
1 cup spinach
1 15-ounce can cannellini beans
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion, diced
1 cup skim or 1% milk
Dash of whole milk (depending on level of thickness)
Fresh chopped sage, about 3 leaves

Directions
1. In a pan, heat 1 tablespoon butter, 1 tablespoon olive oil.
2. When the pan is hot, add chopped or broken sage leaves (about 3 or 4) and 3 minced garlic cloves.
3. Reduce heat to medium-high and add diced onion, cook until soft and translucent.
4. Next, take both sausages and slit lengthways, peeling off the casing. Once off, cut the sausages lengthways and dice into 1/4 inch cubes; add to pan.
5. Once sausage is cooked all the way through, remove from pan and drain on a paper towel.
6. Next, add 1 tablespoon butter to the pan (wiping down excess oil before use) and heat to medium-high.
7. When the pan is heated, add 1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin and 3 cups 1% milk; stir to combine.
8. Bring to a boil, then turn heat to low and add sausage and onion mixture and 1 15-ounce can cannellini beans; stir to combine and simmer.
9. Add a dash of whole milk and 1 cup of spinach, simmer for at least 5 minutes before serving.
10. Serve with a French baguette and Enjoy!

While I know that soup may not be the most creative of dishes, I will say that the flavors melded nicely together and with the addition of the sausage, it was quite hearty. Upon tasting it, I was immediately filled with warmth and memories of Thanksgiving! It perfectly complimented the insanely cold weather and gave us the opportunity to further prolong the holiday season. Enjoy!